Forever Yours
by The 41st Maguanac
Summary: Vampires are running amuck in the festering streets of England. Even Integra is feeling the weight of it, particularly when a reporter with a nose for news becomes obsessed with exposing the organisation... Contains original characters.
1. King's Cross

Forever Yours

By Galatea

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of 'Hellsing' or 'Dragonball Z'. The character of Galatea Fircroft belongs to myself, and the characters of Meidara Dei and Lina Doragon belong to their owners respectively.

Author's Note: For those not familiar with my work, it is important to make a warning here. This story contains original characters and DOES NOT contain the usual pairings. There is no mention of AlucardxIntegra/Celes, TrunksxMarron/Pan and so on. If original characters do not interest you, please hit that little button on your browser labelled 'Back'.

Rating for this chapter: G 

Chapter 1 ~ King's Cross 

London's central station was bustling with activity when Galatea stepped out of the black taxi and on to the steps out front. The frost crunched reassuringly under her feet where the trespassing footsteps of others had yet to turn it to a yellowing, sloppy mush. The smell of roasted chestnuts tempted her nose almost immediately as a seller passed her by, but she resisted the urge to invest in a bag. She had not come all the way down from Durham in order to indulge in Christmas cheer. She was here on business.

She paid the taxi driver his fare – a ridiculously large sum considering that she had only used the cab to get herself across London. Her real destination was the southern and somewhat rural town of Reading, where hopefully she would finally get some answers that had been plaguing her ever since she had received that phone call.

Galatea was a reporter by trade. She worked for a local Reading news-station and presented a show called 'The Spark' with her close colleague, Elena Constantine. That is, she _had_ presented a show with her. That had been up until around 8 hours ago. She had received a phone call in the middle of the night, informing her that Elena had died. Just like that. No description of the circumstances, no 'whys' or 'wherefores'. She just had to accept that next season she would be presenting 'The Spark' with a new co-host.

It just didn't wash. She had only been in the business for 3 years, ever since her uncle had offered her a job at his Socialist paper after she had finished at Secondary School. It was through this that she had earned the esteem of the editor of a paper in Reading, and from there she had moved on to broadcasting. It seemed like a whirlwind of a journey for one so young, but nevertheless, Galatea's 21 years had taught her a few things about stories, and she couldn't let this one lie. She was determined to find out how her friend had died, no matter what that meant un-earthing.

She bought her ticket from one of the machines and made her way over to the train on platform 2, which was surrounded by a cloud of pale steam as the hot air surrounding it met with the cold December air of London. Her informant, an old acquaintance by the name of Philip Stetra was to meet her at Reading station, and from there she would head straight to the scene of the crime. In such cases as these, it was always the best place to start. Jack was the only person who had been in the vicinity at the time, and the details he had given her were vague at best. From what she could make out – one minute Elena had been alive and well, and the next minute she had been reported dead.

Something had happened in that short length of time, and Galatea was determined to find out what it was before it claimed any more victims.

***

Galatea was not the only person at King's Cross that day looking for answers. Quite unbeknownst to the female reporter, someone else boarded the train to the south country, though her mind was preoccupied with things other than her friends and family. She travelled wearing a thick black cloak that only allowed her eyes to be seen. Her hands were gloved and she wore a pair of tall, thick boots that came up to meet the bottom of the cloak. She moved almost like a shadow through the crowds of Christmas shopping, smoothly and never colliding with anyone.

She slipped into one of the First Class carriages and sat down, grateful when no one else entered the carriage after her. She pulled from the refines of the cloak a piece of paper, and looked down at the carefully written words on it for what was probably the hundredth time.

_'Come see for yourself.'_

What was it supposed to mean? Mei didn't know. Her only clue was an address written on the back of the scrap of paper. She had tried looking up the same address on the Internet and in the phonebook, but she hadn't been able to find it. Could it be that she was going to a place that didn't exist? It wouldn't be the first time that something completely insane had happened to her. And it probably wouldn't be the last either.

'Hellsing Institution,' she read again, forming her lips silently around the syllables. Who had summoned her there, and for what purpose? Aside from _certain circumstances_ she was just like everyone else. Could it be that whoever had contacted her knew about what she was, and where she came from? But _how_ could that be? Furthermore, if they did know of her nature, did that just mean she was being lured into a trap by some government agency that wanted to chop her into little pieces and examine her on petri dishes?

She shuddered at the thought and tucked the slip of paper back into her cloak and settled back on her seat to watch the red brick buildings of London melt away into the green hills of the country.

***

Alucard roused himself just as the sun was setting. He stood watching it's flames lick up the parks surrounding the Hellsing Institute, hiding in the shadows where the light couldn't reach him. Of course, it would take more than a few sunrays to wipe out a true No Life King, but 'become a pile of dust and accidentally get swept up by Mrs. Gerard the cleaning lady' wasn't high on his list of things to do.

He waited silently in the shadows, invisible to the eyes of everyone, until the sun was fully set and the stars began to prick their holes in the blanket of darkness that now overshadowed the institute. He slipped through the brickwork, making his way unheeded through the off-duty soldiers who infested the hallway, who only shuddered with a passing chill if they happened to touch him. As was his way, he slipped into the wall again and descended into Integral Hellsing's office through the ceiling.

She didn't lift an eye as he did so. She could always tell when he was present. It was like the sigh of the dead.

"I didn't call you, why are you here Alucard?" she inquired, pushing her thin rimmed glasses back up her nose and focussing on the sheet of paper in front of her.

"Lovely evening, Miss Hellsing," said the vampire, without even making an attempt to answer her question.

Finally Integra looked up from her computer screen, her eyes settled on the red clad being standing before her. " What do you want?"

"Temper, temper, Miss Hellsing," Alucard replied with a toothy smile, walking to the window. Night had now begun to fully set in. The sky had moved through its dark blue phase and was now stained an ugly blood-red with a pinkish moon floating high above like a giant pearl.

"Stop wasting my time," said the stoic woman between clenched teeth.

Alucard remained saying nothing, but continued to look out into the night, a slight smile curving the side of his mouth upwards.

"_Company's coming_."

***

To be continued.


	2. In the Line of Fire

Forever Yours By Galatea 

Disclaimer: See previous chapters.

Author's Note: I'm enjoying keeping these chapters quite short; it means I can post something more often! Oh, and those that are fans of 'Final Resistance', don't worry I am still working on it!

Rating: PG

Chapter 2 ~ In the Line of Fire 

Constable Son inched his face a little further past the cracked plaster wall. He both loved and loathed this time of year. On the one hand it meant that his watch was a lot longer than in the short nights of the summer. On the other, it meant that it was only 6 o clock in the evening and he was already up to his neck in trouble. He would never understand why it was that all the freaks came out at night. There was something about the comforting blackness of the after hours that seemed to bring out the worst in everyone.

Of course, Bardock Son was also conscious of a number of other things that came out at night that his teammates were not. There was also a very particular reason why he worked nightshifts as well.

Bardock was a vampire. One of the first in fact. He had been 'born' nearly 2,500 years ago, deep in the heart of Transylvania in Europe. He had travelled the length and breadth of the world in his time, learning language and culture as he went, sucking the life out of the local inhabitants wherever it pleased him. Sometimes he thought that that had been the life. That had made sense. That was what he was.

But not anymore.

He had determined nearly a year ago to that very day that he was going to find _another_ way. He had decided that he didn't want to play the villain anymore. He didn't want to seduce virgins across the country. He didn't want to battle every other No Life King he found. He wanted to live among humans. Maybe he would never be able to walk the streets in the daytime, but he wanted a chance to do some good. He wanted to wipe his slate clean. He wanted his soul back.

But he wasn't even sure where to start. He had travelled all around Europe and the United States in search of someone of his race who could tell him what to do. To his dismay, he was drawn into more battles than he could count. Sheer numbers of vampires had created these strange half-breeds. FREAK vampires. Immortal, yes, and brutal, of course. They were cruel and malicious and not good for anything but sucking blood and causing pain to the people. He had killed a fair number of those himself. Hey disgusted him – to think that in some way they were related. That someone of his kind would bother raising an army of ghouls to fight on their behalf.

His only option was to hunt down the 'No Life King's like himself. Perhaps one of them would be able to tell him what he could do. He might be censured and despised by his own kind, but that would be nothing if he could find some sense of peace within. If he could find his way back to the man who had existed 2,500 years ago.

Vampires like him were not easy to track down. Unlike the FREAK vampires, they did not go around killing just anyone and turning up on news shows as mysterious homicide cases. A true No Life King would not create ghouls to follow him, as he would have enough strength on his own in a fight. Those that he did drain of blood would either become his loyal servants – far more powerful than any FREAK vampire, and others would simply have their life drained and die. In a way, it was a kinder death than becoming a soulless, cannibalistic ghoul.

His last contact hadn't been able to help him. He had been laughed at for desiring such a thing as to become more human. However, he had been sent in the direction of England to search out another like him – Alucard. He had heard the name before, but never met the creature himself. He did not know what to expect when he found him. If there was the slightest chance of this being helping him regain his soul, then he was going to take that chance. It was worth it not to spend the rest of his existence intent on the destruction and pain of others.

There was the scrunching sound of feet on concrete, and Bardock felt his whole body tense up, ready for the spring. Gloved hands loaded the silver bullets into his gun and he rose to his feet, feeling the burning pres of the metal in his hands. The gloves were not perfect, and the lethal metals stung his flesh even as he held it encased in the shaft of the weapon.

When the moment was right he leapt out of the little gap he had been resting in and wielded his revolver. His aim was accurate and he blasted through the heads of the nearest ghouls in a heartbeat. He had told the rest of his team to wait downstairs, knowing that if they saw the creatures an enquiry would result. He didn't want to draw attention to the existence of Vampires in the area. It would only make it all the more difficult to find out where Alucard was.

Killing off the first ranks of the ghouls wasn't hard. He didn't know where the FREAK that had transformed them was – the chances were that the coward would probably have already fled. He would be able to catch up with it whenever it suited him – for now he was more worried about the welfare of his team downstairs. He couldn't allow these ghouls to slip through his net.

He finished off the first ones that had advanced, listening intently for the next lot. However, no matter how much he strained, he could hear nothing, and he had excellent hearing. Surely there could be none left in the building?

He slipped into a wall and into a nearby room, feeling the presence of dark energy there. Pieces of ghouls lay scattered across the floor – the occasional arm or leg or head. He had grown used to the carnage by now of course. He had been blown to pieces himself a few times.

Something niggled in his mind. A sound he heard – quite a faint one, but there nevertheless. It tickled him continuously, like an itch that he couldn't quite reach. He leant down to the floor, easily prying up one of the floorboards with his fingers and peering into the darkness. It smelt rancid from the years of damp that had infested the abandoned warehouse.

However, deep inside he could make out a few bright red spots of light, and he craned in to get a better look at them. His hand reached in and found itself in a tangle of wires, and something made of metal.

And then the timer hit zero, and Bardock Son died. Again.

***

To be continued.


	3. Old Flames

Forever Yours

By Galatea

Disclaimer: See previous chapters.

Author's Note: A slightly longer chapter this one, but we start to get into some of the more meaty stuff. The mystery thickens.

Thank you to the reader who informed me of my slip up. Alucard is, of course, a 'No Life King'. I have made the necessary changes. Oh, and I changed 'Jack Stetra' to 'Philip Stetra'.

Rating: PG for a little swearing.

***

Chapter 3 ~ Old Flames 

Darkness had long since fallen when Galatea stepped off the train on to the platform at Reading station. She felt tired from her travels and smoothed the creases in her suit jacket and then adjusted her red silk tie. The night air was chilly, and she clutched her briefcase and her laptop close to her side as she walked past the unfamiliar faces. Of course, she knew the ticket collectors and the platform workers, but most of them had already gone home. Night watch had started.

The young woman didn't notice the worried glances she received from the station staff as she walked past them. After all, she had been in Durham for quite some time, reporting on an influential star who had been born in Reading. Things had changed to a surprising degree since the last time she was there.

She looked up as she arrived at an extra ticket barrier, her eyebrows furrowing in surprise.

"Like the new décor?"

Gally looked up into the blue eyes of her fellow reporter, then back down at the large, black painted metal barriers. "When did they bring these things in? I've only been gone about a month. Did something happen?"

Philip Stetra folded his arms and leant back on the wall, pretending to think, "Hmm, well, let's see…" he said, in his usual smug way. He had the personality of one who truly believed that he knew everything. He had fixed opinions on almost every topic known to man. Galatea had had to listen to it many times. Of course, it was hardly her place to point out that quite a few of his philosophies had rather a large number of substantial loop holes…

"It might have something to do with the Vampires."

Galatea didn't even flinch. Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly, and her shoulders slumped about half a millimetre. "You called me all the way home from Durham… do you want to know what kind of day I've had? I took a train from Durham to King's Cross, which lasted ooh, say… 6 hours or so. I then changed to the tube, but my train was delayed so I ended up waiting over an hour and a half before I arrived at Paddington, where I changed train _again_ in order to arrive here nearly 2 and a half later than I hoped. And now," she growled through gritted teeth, "you're telling me that I've been called back for some _teenage prank_??!!"

"And the joy of seeing me of course," he replied with a grin.

If it hadn't been for the barrier, Philip would have ended up with a substantially fatter lip when he went home that evening.

The guard came out with his metal detector and ran it over Galatea's shoulders and pockets before waving her through. She didn't even look at Stetra, but instead pushed her way past him and strolled out into the street.

"Hey babe! What's your hurry?" the reporter called from behind her. She didn't turn to look at him, but walked a few paces into the quiet road and waved her arm in the air as a taxi passed. It didn't see her, and she glared at it as it rounded the following corner, then gestured rudely.

"Leave me alone!" she said as Stetra came up behind her. "I don't want to talk to you. I can't believe you called me back here for nothing."

"This isn't nothing!" Stetra replied, for once being serious. "This is business! I'm telling you, Vampires are alive and well and living in Reading!"

Galatea rolled her large brown eyes and turned to face him at last. Why was it that this man could never be serious about anything? Not even when they had been going out. He was almost famed for being a complete waste of space. What had she ever seen in him? "What are you trying to tell me, Stetra?" she groused, knocking him back with her laptop case and heading back to the pavement. "Vampires have moved in along with the student community? They're living on mass in Whitley? Hell, I knew the area was a dive, but I didn't think standards had sunk _that_ low."

Philip grabbed her shoulders to prevent her clouting him again, "Listen Gally, I know that I'm not always as serious as I should be…"

The young woman made an exasperated snort and shook him off, "Don't call me Gally."

"Galatea Fircroft, this isn't about me, or you, or us!" he growled darkly, once again gripping her shoulders, this time a lot tighter. "This is about Elena. I don't know exactly what happened that night… but I'm sure it had something to do with… with Vampires. I'm sure of it."

The female reporter looked down and shook her head. "You have no idea how this sounds. Vampires? I mean, they don't exist, Philip. Do you know what would happen if I went on television and said that my partner had been killed by Vampires?"

"Just listen," Philip insisted, his expression revealing none of the light-hearted humour for which he was famed. "I went to the hospital today. I wanted to see Elena's body, but I was _escorted off the premises_," he said. "I went back to the station to get a warrant as a member of the press, but when I came back her body was _gone_. _Somebody_ didn't want me to see her corpse."

Gally shook her head tiredly, "Okay, fine. We know there were some strange circumstances surrounding her death, but for Heaven's sake, Philip, that doesn't mean she was bitten by a Vampire."

Stetra finally relaxed his hold on her shoulders and turned away to look up into the cloudy night sky. "I was there the night he died," he said.

"I know."

"No… no, you don't," Stetra replied solemnly, his gaze falling to ground and fixing on a damp drain cover, still clogged with dead leaves from the autumn. "I saw her just minutes before she was announced to be dead. I didn't… I didn't understand. They said that she'd been caught in the crossfire from a sudden scuffle with an officer over some videotape he had confiscated. I tried to get back into the room to see her, but some guy hit me over the head and the next thing I knew I was waking up on the way to the hospital."

Gally's brow relaxed slightly. This was a side to Stetra she wasn't at all used to seeing. Who would have thought that beneath that sarcastic façade was a sensitive guy? "Philip…"

"Something happened to her Galatea. I never heard any bullets. There was no blood all over the floor aside from what had already been spilled that evening."

"But… Vampires?"

"There's been some strange shit going on since you left," Stetra continued, sitting down on a street sign and folding his arms. "The streets aren't safe to walk at night anymore. That's what the whole business back at the station was about. There have been a lot of strange murders recently. The police haven't been dealing with things the way they used to. It always happens at night too. This strange military force always shows up… I thing they call themselves, 'Hellsing'."

Gally raised an eyebrow and turned back to the street to look out for a taxi. "Hellsing, eh? I hate to burst your bubble, but the more you tell me about this Vampire business, the more it sounds like a hoax. A sick prank that has got out of hand, perhaps, but a hoax nonetheless. 'Helsing' was a character out of Bram Stoker's 'Dracula'. Just because you can't explain what is happening, it doesn't mean that the paranormal comes into play. It just means that there's a rational explanation we're not seeing."

"Well, is it?" Stetra rounded on her suddenly, running a hand through his faintly russet hair, which had become mussed up from the damp atmosphere. "Is it really all rational? Is there a reason we're not seeing? I can't see it, Galatea, can you?" He gave her a hard stare, which forced Gally to look away again.

"I don't have all the answers," she replied shortly. "I'm a reporter, it's my job to find the answers."

Stetra's expression softened once more, and he went back to staring at the drain cover. "Deaths at night… not being allowed to see the body… a new Institution turns up designed to deal with these incidents? Someone's trying to cover something up, and I think we need to find out who," he said firmly. "If not for our own sakes, then for Elena's. She deserves that much. Whether you help me or not, I'm not going to rest until I find out what happened to her."

Gally knew it was all bullshit. Not what he was saying necessarily, but she had never known Stetra to show an interest in any case for more than 10 minutes. It would take all her ingenuity to follow this story through to the end. All the same, Stetra had sparked her interest. What was this 'Hellsing Institution'? It certainly hadn't been in operation when she had left just a month ago. The place to start would be the Internet of course, a few of her own more private sources working in Reading. One could learn a surprising amount about the dark side from those who actually operated within it.

"I'll think about it," she said, turning her attentions back to trying to get a taxi.

"Gally, why don't you just stay at my place tonight?" Stetra said tiredly, and not a little bit hopefully. "It's getting late and the taxis are all going to be out taking the students to The Matrix."

"I left my car in the car park at 'The Oracle'," she complained loudly. "I intend to fetch it tonight, before the ticket I bought for it runs out."

"And you're telling me that your ticket is going to expire before you go and fetch it tomorrow morning?" Stetra replied with a grim smile, walking up behind her as she went to summon another taxi and wrapping his arms around her waist. "I have a _really_ comfortably couch," he murmured into her ear.

"Stop it," Galatea objected, pushing him away and putting her hands on her hips. "If I did agree to sleep on your couch, you'd have to sleep on the bed. Away from me. You know what happened the last time."

Stetra sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "And was it so bad? I mean, really?"

"That's not the point," Gally grimaced, trying not to remember what had happened the last time she had ended up in Stetra's flat. Personally, she blamed the bottle of wine as much as anything else. "It shouldn't have happened. We called it quits a long time ago, and there was a good reason for it."

"Why don't," Stetra replied, sauntering over, "we just head on back to my place tonight. I'm not going to force you to do anything you don't want to do. You know that. We're friends, right?"

"Work colleagues," Gally replied coolly, though she was now allowing herself to be ushered in the direction of Stetra's car. "Fine, but I'm leaving first thing in the morning."

"Whatever you say," Stetra replied with a smirk, gently leading her. "I won't cross any boundaries."

But that night, he did. And for a short time, Gally enjoyed it. A _very_ short time.

***

To be continued.


End file.
